Railway signaling system.



Wain/essa PATENTBD JULY 1'7, 1906. L. H. THULLEN.

RAILWAYSIGNALING SYSTEM. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 20, 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

No. 825,988. I PATENTBD JULY 1'7, 1906.

, LLH. THULLEN. RAILWAY SIGNALING SYSTEM.

APPLIOATIO N FILED JUNE 20, 1905.

2 SHBETS-SHEET 2.

Wmws,

' To all whom, it may concern:

UNITED srargs PATENT oFFIoE,

LOUIS H.'THULLEN, OF EDGEWOOD PARK, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE UNIONSWITCH AND SIGNAL COMPANY, OFSWISSVALE, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION()FPENNSYLVANIA.

RAILWAY SIGNALING SYSTEM.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 17, 1906.

Application filed June 20, 1905. Serial N 266,161.

- Be it known that I, LOUIS H. THULLEN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Ed ewood Park, in the count of Allegheny 311C? State ofPennsylvania, ave invented certain new and useful Improvements inRailway Signaling Systems, of which the following 1s a specification.

My inventionrelates to railway signaling s stems in which track-circuitsare used for t e control of signals, and particularly to those caseswhere a direct current is used in I the said track-circuits.

v and Fi In the accompanying drawings, Figure l 2., I have diarammatically illustrated a porticm of araiIwaycomprismg one completetrack-circuit with the signal controlled thereby and portions of twoadjacent track-circuits. I have also shown in diagrammatic form therelays controlling the signals and theapparatus embodying my invention.

I will now describe the said apparatus and then point out thenovel'features thereof in claims.

Referring to Fig. 1, A designates a portion of a railway having one raildivided to form sections D D D 810., by insulation (1 a, &c. Each ofthesesections is called a block-section and comprisesa track-circuitwhich includes a source of current-s11 ply B B, &c., at one end of theblocksect1on, a relay device R R, &c., at the otherend of the sectionadapted to respond in the movements of its armature to th'e presence orabsence in. its coil ofcurrent furnished by the said source of su ply,and the rails of the block-section which are used as conductors of thecurrent from the source of supply to the relay. A signal S S, &c., islocated at the entrance end of each block-section for the purpose of vabsenceof trains or cars in the block-sections to which theyrespectively govern-the entrance.

B B designate, respectively, the sources of current-supply for thetrack-circuits D and D that for D not being shown the drawings. In thisarticular case I have shown the sources 0 current-supply and B as beingsecondary or storage cells,

to the art from a source of direct current G, located at any convenientpoint along the railway, the charging-current from the said source Gbeing conveyed to the several cells or batteries of cells B B, &c.,along suitable main conductors C and C. The cells B B, &c., as I shallhereinafter term them, are furnished in duplicate for eachtracksection,'and approprlate switchin arran ements H H are provided ineac case or changing over the cell connections to the charging-mains C Cand to the track-rails of their respective block-sections, so that .onecell of any given pair ma be dischargin onto the track-circuit whi e theother cel source G.

E- designates a source ofalternating-current supply, one terminal ofwhich is connected to main conductor C of the batterycharging system andthe other terminal to the continuous rail L of the railway.

T T are transformers, one being provided for each trackcircuit. Theprimary coil p p, &c., of each transformer has one terminal connected tothe main conductor 0, and the other terminalis connected, through thecondenser K K*, to the continuous rail L. The secondary coil 8 s, &c.,of each transformer may be connected up in various different ways, ofwhich I have shown two in Fig. 1 and two more in Fig. 2. In Fig, 1 thesecondary coil 8. of transformer T has one terminal 25 connected to thesectional rail 1" and the other terminal t to the continuous rail L. Inother words, it is connected in multiple circuit with the relay R. Thesecondary coils of the transformer T has one terminal terminal t to oneof the track-rails, the remaining terminal of the said relay beingconnected to' the other track-rail at the point Z, so.that the saidsecondarycoil s is in series with the coils of the relay R. The oints Fand J on the main conductor C, W ere the primary coils of transformersTand T are respectively connected to the said main C,

which are charged in a manner well knownof the same pair is beingcharged from the t connected to the relay R and the other in the saidcircuits.

resistance in-their primary coils p and p, it

follows that a like diiference'of potentialwill exist between thepointsj and f where the said primary coils p and p are respectivelyconnected to the continuous rail L, and this difference of potentialbetween and f tends,

to cause a flow of direct current other than the return propulsionc'urrent from the source G along the rail between these points/ Such aflow of direct current from such a source would be likely to deran ethe-track-relays R R, which are responsive in the movement of theirarmatures to the presence of direct current flowing in the rails.

to which they are connected. In order to prevent any derangement of thesi nal system arising from this cause, I .provi e means for preventingthe flow of direct current through the primary circuits of the trans-,

formers T T by inserting-condensers K K constructed according toruleswell known in the art and are adapted to act as insulators of thedirect current, though they will transmit the alternatingcurrent of thecircuits of "which they form parts. The secondary coil s of thetransformer T, as I have already explained, is connected in multiplecircuit with the relay R across the track-rails, and I therefore inserta condenser K in the circuit of said secondary coil 8 in order toprevent the direct current of the trsick-Circuit-that is, the currentfrom source Bfrom traversing the said secondary coil .9, and therebyshort-circuiting the relay R.

In Fig. 2 the secondary coils s s of the transformers T T are notconnected to the track-rails as in Fig. 1. The wire connecting theterminals of the secondary coil 8 of transformer T is looped in one ormore convolutions around the magnet-core m'of relay R and the wireconnecting the terminals of the secondary coil .9 of transformer T islooped in one or more convolutions around the armature n of relay R Asin Fig. 1, A designates in Fig. 2 a portion of a railway having one raildivided. to form sections D D D 800., by insulation a a, &c. B Bdesignate the. sources of ourrent-supply for the sections D I),respectively, the said sources in this case being shown as primarybatteries,'which may be of any suitable type. As regards the operationof my invention, it is a matter of indifference as to whether a primaryor secondary battery or any other source of direct current'is used forsupplying current to the track-circuits.

the operation of 5 The said condensers are- Fi 1 have shown how one ofthe battery-c arging wires of a storage battery systern may beused as aconductor forthe alternating current which I'use inthe apparatus,

In- Fig. 2, where:

embodying myinvezition. primary batteries are used as sources ofcurrent-supplyior the track-circuits, no charg- 1ng-w1resa'reemployed,there being no storage batteries to charge; Inthis case Iaccordingly em 10 a -Wire..or' other suitable conductor 0 in t e placeofthe' conductor 0 of Fig. 1, and I connect one terminal of the sourceof alternating-current supply E t0 the said conductor C and the otherterminal of point F and the other terminal connected to, the continuousrail L at the pointf. R des ignates a relay having its terminalsconnected, respectively, to the two track-rails of the track-section 'Dat oneend of the said section and adapted to res 0nd in the move-- mentof its armature to t e presence or. absence of direct current initscoils, the said direct current being derived from the source B andbeing-conveyed in the usual Wellknown manner through the track-railsfrom like manner, R designates a relay having its --E to the continuoustrack rail L, as in Fig. 1.

'95 the said source B to, the said relay B In terminals connected to thetrack-rails of the sectionfD and deriving its operating-current from asource of direct-currentsupplywhich is located at the other end of thesection D, but is not shownin the diawings. T designates a transformerhaving one terminalof its primary coil p connected to the conductor C atthe point J and the other terminal to the continuous rail L at j.

From the fore oing description it will be seen that I have s own in Fig.1 two different means whereby I induce an alternating current to flowthrough the'.winding of a trackrelay concurrently with the flow ofdirect our:

rent through the same winding, the said di-- I rect current beingderived from the ordinary source of-curmnt-supply. In the case of relayR in Fig. 2 I em 0y a separate winding on the relay-core an providemeans for causing an alternating current to flow through the saidseparatewinding, and in thecase of relay R Fig. 2, I cause analternating current to flow through a winding which embraces orencircles the armature ofzsaid relay. III'BflCh of the above-cited casesthe magnetic lines of force generated by the alternatin current will cutthrough or embrace the w ole or a.

part of the magnetic field enerated by the direct current which flowsing of the relays. The flow of magnetic lines through the Windthemagnetic field of therelay will of course where said current is to beused, means for 65 change its direction of flow twice in eachcycleconnecting each of said secondary batteries of the alternating currentand will conse quently tend to neutralize the magnetic effects of thedirect current, and upon the cessation of the flow of direct currentthrough the relay-windings any residual magnetism which might otherwiseremain in the relay coil or armature will thereby be neutralized and thesensitiveness of the relay thereb greatly enhanced. The amount orstrengt of the alternating current which I thus introduce into themagnetic field of the relay for the purpose of destroying or neutralizinthe residua magnetism ma be ver smal indeedso small, in fact, t at itnot affect the ordinary operation of the relay in its energized state.Various other means besides those which I have shown may be employed forinducing 'an alternating current to flow in the magnetic field of arelay.

What I claim as my invention is- 1. In a railway signaling system havinga plurality of block-sections, thecombination with a track-circuit foreachblock-section, comprising a relay, of means comprising a source ofalternating current for reducing the ma netic field of the relaywhen atrain enters a bIocksection.

2. In a railway signaling system having one or more block-sections, thecombination of one or more track-circuits for each blocksection, eachtrack-circuit com rising a source of current-supply and a re ay deviceadapted to respond in themovement of its armature to the presence orabsence in its coils of current derived from the'said source of supply,and means for causing alternatin of one or more track-circuits for eachblock section, each track-circuit comprising a source of direct-currentsupply and a relay device adapted to respond in the movement of itsarmature to the presence or absence of current in its coils derived fromsaid source, a. source of alternating current supply and means forcausing current derived from said source of alternating current totraverse the magnetic field of said relay.

4. In a railway signaling system having one or more block-sections,thecombination .of one or more track circuits for each blocksection,each track-circuit comprising one or more secondary batteries and arelay device adapted to respond in the movement of its armature to thepresence or absence of cur.

alternately with the said conductors and with the track-rails of theblock-section, a source of alternating-current supply and means forutilizing one of the conductors of the batterycharging system as one,conductor of the alternating current and means for using one or bothtrack-rails of the railway as the other conductor of the saidalternating current,"

and means for causing alternating current derived from said'source totraverse the direct-current winding of the relay device.

5. In a railway signaling system having or con uctors for conveying thechargingcurrent from the said source to the place or laces where saidcurrent is to be used, means or connecting each of said secondarybatteries alternately with the said conductors and with the track-railsof the block-section, a source of alternating-current supply and meansfor utilizing one of the conductors of the batterycharging systems as.one conductor of the alternating current and means for using one or bothtrack-rails of the railway as the other conductor of the saidalternating current, and means for causing alternating current derivedfrom said source to traverse a wind- .ing on the core of the relaydevice.

6. In a railway signaling system having one or more block-sections, thecombination of one or more track-circuits for each blocksection, eachtrack-circuit comprising one or more secondary batteries and a relaydevice adapted to respond in the movement of its armature to thepresence or absence of current derived from said secondary batteries inits coils,-a source of direct-current snpplyfor chargin the saidsecondary batteries, wires or con uctors for conveyingthechargingcurrent from the said source to the place or laces where saidcurrent is to be used, means For connecting each of said secondarybatteries alternately with the said conductors and with' thetrack-railsof the block-section, a source of alternating-current supply and meansfor utilizing one of the conductors of the battery-charging system asone conductor of the alternating current and means for using one or bothtrack-rails of the railway. as the other conductor of the saidalternating current, and means for causing alternating current derivedfrom said source to traverse 7.. In arailway signaling system having oneor more block-sections, the combination "of one or more track-circuitsfor each blocksection, each track-circuit comprising one or moresecondary batteries and a relay device adapted to respond in themovementof its or con i the other conductor of the said alternatingor connectingeach of said secondary batteries alternately with the said conductorsand with the track-rails of the block-section, a

source of alternating-current supply and means for utilizing one of theconductors of the battery-charging system as one conductor of the,alternating current and means for using one or both track-railsof therailway as current, of a transforming device or each track-section,having one terminal of its pri- .the said transforming device to onetrack-rail 5 of the railway and of'connecting the other mary coilconnected to one of the conductors of the battery-charging system andthe other g terminal connected to one of the track-rails of the railway,of means inserted in the circuit of the primary coilof the transformerwhereby the flow of direct current from the source of direct current tothe track-rails of the railway is prevented, of means for connecting oneterminal of the secondary coil of terminal Etc-the -other 'track rail ofthe railway, and means inserted in the circuit of the said secondarycoil, whereby direct current from the track-rails of the railway ispreventedilfrom fiowing through the said secondary co 8. In a railwaysignaling system having one or more block-sections, the combination ofone or more track-clrcuits for each blocksection, each track-circuitcomprising one or more secondary batteries and a relay. device adaptedto respond in the movement of its armature to the presence or absence ofcurrent derived from said secondary batteries in its coils, a source ofdirect-current supply for charging the said secondary batteries, Wiresor conductors for conveying the chargingcurrent from thesaid source tothe place or laces Where said current is to be used ,means or connectingeach of said secondary batteries alternately with the said conductorsand with the'track-rails of the block-section, a

.source of alternating-current su'ply and means for utilizing one of thecon uctors of .the battery-charging system as one conductor of thealternating current and means for using one or both track-rails of therailway as the other conductor of the said alternating current, of atransforming device for each by the flow of direct current from thesource I of direct current to the track-rails of the rail-i way isprevented, of means for connecting one terminal ofthe' secondary coil ofsaid transforming device to one track-rail of the railway and the otherterminal of said secondary coil to one terminal of the relay device,

the othenterminal of said relay device being connected to the othertrack-rail of the rail-- 9 In a railwa signaling system having one ormore bloc -sections, the combination of one or more track-circuits foreach'block' section,- each track-eircuit comprising a source ofcurrent-supply-and a relay device adapted to respond in the movement ofits armature to the presence or absence of cur rent in its coils derivedfrom said source, of a source of alternating-current supply having oneof its terminals connected to one of the track=rails of the railway andthe other of its I,

terminals connected to a wire or conductor laid or strung alongside andadjacent the railway, of a transforming device having one terminal ofits primary coilconnected to one track-rail of the railway and its othertermi nal connected to the said wire or conductor,

to which one terminal of the source ofaltsrnating current is in likemanner e'onnectedfof a secondary coll fornnn'g part of sa1d transformingdevice and means for causing the alternating current which is induced inthe loo said secondary coil to traverse a Winding of one or moreconvolutions and means for causing the said winding to encircle orembrace the magnet-core of the relay device.

10. In a railway signaling system having one or more block-sections, thecombination ofone or more track-circuits for each blocksection, eachtrack-circuit com rising a source of current-supply and a re aydeviceadapted to respond in the movement of its armature 'to thepresence or absence of currentin its coils derived from said source, ofa source of alternating-current supply having one of its terminalsconnected to one of the track-rails of the railway and the other ofitsterminals connected to a Wire or conductor laid or strung alongside andadjacent the railway, of a transforming device having one terminal ofits primary coil connected to one track-rail'of the railway and itsother terminal connected to the said wire or conductor to whichone'terminalof thesource of alternat. ing current is in like mannerconnected, of asecondary "coil forming part of said transforming device'and' means for] causing'the alternating current which is induced in thesaid secondary coil to traverse a Winding of Lseetion for dispelling theresidual magnetism i0 one br more convolutions and means for causof therelay.

ing the said Winding to encircle or embrace In testimony yvhereof I havesigned my the armature of the-relay device. I name to this specificationin the presence of 11. In a railway signaling system-having a twosubscribed Witnesses.

plurality of block-sections, the combination LOUIS H. THULLEN;

with a track-circuit comprising a relay for Witnesses:

each block-section, of a means comprising a JAMES CHALMERS, Jr.

source of alternating current for each block- W. L. MGDANIEL.

